Early school leavers - Cultural change may be answer

WHEN someone leaves school before reaching leaving certificate level their options are limited but those options will be even more confined in the future.

In this situation there are nearly always life-defining, negative consequences for the individuals and their families. There is also a huge cost to the exchequer.

Many of those young men who left school early to avail of the opportunities in the construction sector during the boom now have neither work or the educational qualifications to help them get back to work.